Speaking of the Weather

New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 425, 15 August 1947, Page 11

Speaking of the Weather

N interesting talk on "Weather and Climate"" was given from 4YA by G. D. A. Anderson, M.A., education officer at the. Otago Museum. I confess that when I listen to the Weather Report myself, it is with little real knowledge of its purport. Waves of pressure, cyclones and anti-cyclones, deep depressions, cold fronts, and so on, mean little to me; even to the details of the local weather I listen with half an ear, not really believing that a man up there in Wellington can tell me whether to take my coat to-morrow when I walk up Princes’ Street (being a Dunedinite, I always take it, wet or fine, "just in case").. But Mr. Anderson, with a few words, set me right about the matter. After I had heard him explaining the different cloud-types, the peculiarities of local climate, and some methods of observation, I felt that I could easily become my own weather-caster, dispensing forever with those unreliable people up in Wellington. After the talk was over, I went outside, observed the types of clouds, the possibility of a halo round the moon, the approximate velocity of the wind, and the position of the needle in the barometer. According to my forecast, we were in for bad weather, and possibly snow. Sure enough, that was exactly what happened. However, I take no credit to myself-as a friend remarked, any ‘Dunedinite could have forecast snow in July!